More Than Meets The Eye
by Saturn Emway
Summary: A love-triangle romance fic I wrote on a whim. Kloppman's sweet yet strong-willed granddaughter comes to live at the lodging house.
1. Chapter 1

Kloppman started the day as he always did. Six in the morning, go upstairs to wake up the lazy newsboys, get them on their feet and out the door before the gates to the circulation office opened. It got quiet once the boys were out for the day, and Kloppman would often clean things up in the bedroom or bathroom (God knew the boys didn't do that for themselves) or get any food that needed to be got.

But one day, in the September after the monumental strike, was different by far. It was around noon, and all the boys would be in the midst of their selling. Kloppman was confused by a knock on the door. He went out from behind the counter and opened it. When he saw the young lady standing there, his usually hard eyes and sober expression softened and warmed. "Cathy?"

"Grandpa!" Cathy smiled as she was pulled into an embrace by her grandfather. Her blue eyes danced with excitement when she pulled back. "Grandpa, Papa sent me to Manhattan for a while to stay with you. He has to sort things out with Mama and the boys, and said it would be best for me. I took the train here and came to the Lodging House, where Papa said you lived now..."

Kloppman's smile faded slowly. "Cathy, this is short notice," he said slowly. "I really dunno if I have everything in order. I have to think of the boys...and where will you sleep? I couldn't have you room with the other kids; there's not a girl among em."

Cathy reached into her carpetbag and pulled out an unmarked envelope. "Papa said to give you this before you made a decision. He said that if you really, really couldn't, I could stay at a hotel or something." She looked at him hopefully. "But I'd really love to stay with you, Grandpa..."

Kloppman opened the envelope and read silently:

_Dear Father,_

_I'm sorry for sending Cathy to you without giving you so much as a warning. I know you'll be glad to see her and hope this letter reaches both of you well. If you think you won't be able to handle another mouth to feed (Rosie and I have heard of all the wonderful work you do with the boys of the city), please listen, and make sure Cathy doesn't find, read or hear this letter. Rosie is very sick. She might have TB, and it's only getting worse. Cathy is under the impression her mother is sick with the flu. Only I know better. I couldn't bear Cathy to know the truth. So until all this is over, I've sent her brothers to the Phillip's farm, where they'll live and work for a while. I couldn't send her to work on a farm...so you're the only other place I know of where I can sleep at night knowing she's safe. I understand if you can't, Father, but all I can say is please. I need this from you, and you know I'd never ask for anything I didn't truly need. Please respond or have Cathy write me._

_--Your Son, James Kloppman_

Kloppman's face fell. He folded the letter and placed it securely in his pocket. "Of course you can stay here, Cat," he said, referring to her by an affectionate nickname. "I'll see what I can do by way of a bed..."

"Oh, thank you, Grandpa!" Cathy exclaimed, and threw her arms around Kloppman's neck. Kloppman laughed, and went upstairs to see if any of the cots would be unoccupied.

The door to the Newsboy Lodging House banged open some hours later. "Hey, Kloppman!" Kid Blink boomed. "Dutchy was able to read the headline today!"

"Thief Caught!" Dutch repeated with a smile. There was chatter all throughout the room as more and more newsies poured in: Kid Blink and Dutchy, followed by Mush, Boots, Skittery, Snitch, Bumlets, Specs, Pie-Eater and Jack. As the boys began to ascend the staircase, Kloppman appeared at the top.

"Now hold on, boys! Hold on, will yeh? Quiet down for a sec..." Kloppman raised his arms to stop the boys, and one by one they quieted down and looked at him. They knew it couldn't be anything good...Kloppman very rarely stopped them from going about their business.

Kloppman waited for silence. "Now there's somethin' you boys gotta know and I best tell yeh before y'figure out y'self. Now..."

"If this is about the toilets I swear it was Kid Blink this time!" Skittery exclaimed suddenly.

"Skittery! Keep quiet!" Kloppman yelled, but not exasperated. It was nothing new. From the door beside him, Cathy covered her moth and suppressed a giggle. But she did was her grandfather had told her: stay out of sight until he broke the news to the boys.

Kloppman continued. "I got a message from my son today..."

"You have a son?" Mush inquired. There was a general murmur through the small crowd. "Gee, Kloppman, we didn't even know you were married..."

"I'm not anymore, y'lousy joke, now keep yer mouth shut so I can tell yeh what I gotta tell yeh!" The boys quieted again. "And he says he's sending my granddaughter to live here while he sorts things out with his family."

"When she comin'?" Kid Blink asked.

"She's here..." Kloppman said. "Name's Cathy. Sweet girl, real nice girl. Now if it's not too much to ask, ya little rats, I'd prefer if she was treated like a lady. Ya got me?" Making sure Cathy couldn't see, Kloppman gave Mush a very meaningful look. "That means you boys act like gentlemen..." The look spread to the others. "Ya got me?"

Kloppman had gotten the cleverly hidden message across. Bumlets and Snitch strangled laughter. Others nodded obligingly. Mush, Skittery and Kid Blink raised their hands innocently. Satisfied, Kloppman turned and called into the bunk room. "Cathy...c'mout and meet the newsboys..."


	2. Chapter 2

Cathy stepped onto the landing beside her grandfather. She saw ten hats come off and ten smiles directed her way. Kloppman put a hand on Cathy's shoulder. "Boys...this is Cathy. Cathy, these is...ah, let's see..."

Mush stepped forward, his smile warm. "Mush Meyers. A pleasure." He extended his hand. Cathy took it, and blushed a bit when Mush kissed her hand. Kloppman told Mush to wash up, and as Mush walked past Kloppman gave him a sharp look and an elbow in the ribs to match. Mush winced a little and kept walking.

The incident went unnoticed by Cathy. One by one the newsies came up and shook her hand, introducing themselves. As the last of the boys, a short one named Boots, passed her by, Cathy found herself wondering how she was going to remember all their names. She sat behind the front desk as some of the older ones obligingly brought an unused cot down the stairs and into the room where Kloppman slept. As they struggled to do this, Cathy observed some colorful language she hadn't been exposed to previously:

"Poke up, ya bonehead, ya gonna run me ova!"

"Shoo fly! I ain't doin' nothin'. Ask Specs what the hell he's doin'..."

"Shut your trap, Blink!"

"For Crissake, we're carryin' a mattress here, not dynamite! Move it!"

They paid her no mind as they tried to fit the mattress through the door, and then proceeded to yell at each other. Once one of them shoved another, Cathy jumped up. "Please! Boys? If you have to fight...take it upstairs?" She alternated sounding polite and meek to vaguely influential.

The boys looked at her for a moment, and then laughed. "Call that fightin', doll?" Kid Blink said. "That's what ya do when you're angry at a friend. Get miffed at someone who ain't...look out, Charley!" He swung a fist in the air.

She sat back down. "Are things like that all over New York?"

"All over. 'Cept in high brow places like the Upper side. And Queens. Queens they're all a buncha wimps, anyways." Kid Blink took a seat on the desk. "Where're you from, anyways?"

"Kentucky..." Cathy answered.

"Where'sat?

"South..."

"We got us a hayseed!" Bumlets exclaimed. "Hey, you guys own a farm?"

"Of course we do. Biggest milk farm in the county."

Bumlets sniggered. "Ain't that somethin' to be proud of..."

Cathy flushed. "It is. And what do you have to be proud of?"

"Not much. I got my papes, my hat, and my dignity." Bumlets emphasized his point by throwing on his cap. "I'll see you all later..."

"Where ya goin'?" Pie-Eater asked.

"I gotta date."

"With who?"

But Bumlets had left. Kid Blink shook his head. "Prolly with Oscar Delancey..."

The others laughed as the door to the lodging house opened again. Itey, Crutchy, Jake, Snoddy, David, and Les filed in, looking exhausted. "You won't believe the day we had!" Itey exclaimed. "Central Park, Bottle Alley, West side, East side, Midtown...and we still got two or three left over!" He collapsed in a chair as Snoddy tossed the unsold papers onto the front desk.

Les went up to the counter and rang the bell, a ritual of his. "I got thirty cents today," he announced, "all on my own..." He looked at Cathy, who smiled at him. Meekly Les smiled back and turned away.

Snipe-Shooter ran in a few moments later. "Where was Bumlets going?"

"He said he had a date," Specs answered. "But he's probably off to steal something..."

"Definitely," David said. "As if he would have a date..."

A pause came over them. David caught sight of Cathy. "Hello..." he said with a hint of confusion.

"Hello," Cathy said back.

"Oh, yeah, right. Dave, this is Casey. Kloppman's granddaughter." Kid Blink said hurriedly.

"You moron, her name's not Casey!" Specs hit Blink upside the head. "It's Cassie..."

Pie-Eater stepped forward. "Kloppman said it was Caylie..."

"Can I save you boys the trouble?" Cathy said. They quieted, and she turned to David. "It's Cathy. And you are?"

"David Jacobs. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Les!" Les exclaimed suddenly. "David's my brother. He's older."

"Nice to meet you," Cathy returned.

David turned and pointed to each of the other boys who had just come in. "And here we have Jake, Itey and Snoddy."

"Skip!" Crutchy yelled out from the doorframe, startling the others. He came forward with a mock glare at David, who grinned apologetically. Crutchy addressed Cathy. "Since I seem to be invisible tonight, Miss Cathy, I'll inna-douce myself. Crutchy Morris."

"Crutchy..." Cathy said with a smile. "A pleasure."

"What brings you to the Lodging House?" Snoddy asked.

Cathy relayed the story again. "I don't know how long I'll be staying here..."

"Well, consider yourself welcome," David said pleasantly.

Suddenly the door slammed open, very nearly hitting Itey in his chair. Racetrack barreled in, looking furious. "Where's that bum Skittery? I'll kill 'im!" He slammed a Sheepshead Bay race card on the front desk. He bellowed up the stairs, "Skittery, ya two-bit crook! Get down here 'fore I have to go up and get ya myself! Lousy bum...I'll fix ya...!"


	3. Chapter 3

Snitch appeared at the landing. "Skittery's in the john...what's all the yellin' for, Race?"

"I'll tell ya what it's for! He owes me two bits! 'I gave it to ya,' he says. 'In your pockets,' he says. An' then runs away like the little...SKITTERY!"

Kid Blink ran over to Racetrack and grabbed his shoulders. "Race! For God's sake, will ya calm down!? Geez, all this for two bits?"

"Yeah, all this for two bits! Cause dose were my two bits and if Skittery doesn't pull 'em out of his ear I'll pull 'em outta his—"

"WHOA!" David exclaimed. "Race! If in your blind rage you didn't notice the lady here…" David pointed at Cathy. "Let me introduce you. Racetrack, meet Cathy. Cathy, meet Racetrack and his temper."

Racetrack glared at Dave. "You got some mouth on ya…" he spat. He looked at Cathy. "I'll take the time to say my hellos later. Right now I gotta soak Skittery till he coughs up my two bits…"

Racetrack broke from Kid Blink's grasp and barreled up the stairs. Cathy looked back at the boys, who shrugged. "He's not always like that," Jake insisted.

"Usually worse," Itey mumbled so only Crutchy heard.

Cathy shifted in her seat. "Do all newsboys have such…odd vocabularies?"

"It's something you pick up," Dave said. "You'll get used to it eventually."

Cathy nodded and excused herself for the bedroom. She hoped she would get used to everything here, she thought as she closed the door behind her and her smile vanished. So far she had seen rough language, loud boys who were anything but the gentlemen her grandfather had told them to be, and a general rowdiness that she never thought she would see in one place, especially by people who considered themselves friends. It would take a lot of getting used to. And she wasn't at all sure she could do it before she went back home…

* * *

"You're all a buncha no-good street rats!" Kloppman hissed at the boys an hour later. They sat on their bunks, trying not to look too uneasy or upset. Kloppman never seriously yelled at them, and now they were getting a lecture. "I tell yeh to behave in fronta my gran'daughta, and whadda I get? Ya throw around yer foul mouths more'n usual! What must she thinka yeh, huh?"

The guilty boys shifted uncomfortably. Kloppman left them where they were with a few parting words: "Clean up yer act, boys…"

Kid Blink looked out from his bunk. "I didn't think we were all that bad…"

"Well it wasn't what Kloppman was looking for…" Racetrack said.

"Were youse caps on?" Snitch asked. The newsies who had been downstairs with Cathy nodded. Snitch shook his head. "The hat comes off. That's what Kloppman keeps tellin' me…"

"Yeah, boys…" Blink said. "And ya know we was throwin' those dirty words around…"

There was a slight pause, and Mush took advantage of it to ask a question. "Hey fellas? You think she's pretty at all?"

Laughter spread around the bunk. "You'd be the one to ask, wouldn't ya, Mush?" Specs chortled. "Is dat all ya ever think about?"

"Just thinkin'. You fellas think so?" Mush asked again, undeterred by the laughter.

The general answer was a slight "Eh…" from most of the boys. Jack took the liberty of verbalizing the general opinion. "She's no Gibson girl…but she ain't so bad…"

"Nah, she ain't so bad. Why?" Kid Blink turned an accusing eye on Mush.

Mush shrugged. "No reason. Just askin'."

"Nothin' doin'!" Racetrack exclaimed. "You're carryin' the torch, Mush!"

"No, no, no!" Mush insisted.

"Wouldn't know ya felt that way by how ya said hello…" Jack said with a wry grin.

"Kloppman saw red…" Skittery muttered with a grin.

A slight commotion broke out. Jake quieted them and addressed them all. "A'right, a'right. It don't matter what Mush thinks of 'er, or if she's pretty or not. Kloppman asked up special t'treat her as good as we'd treat a lady. So that's what we gonna do. You'se with me?"

A chorus of "Yes," went through the bunk room, and Jack nodded affirmatively. A few minutes later Kloppman pounded on the door, announcing lights-out. The boys obliged and went to bed.

Two of the boys didn't fall asleep easy, their minds racing and keeping them up well into the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Two weeks passed since Cathy's arrival at the lodging house. Late one night, a whispered conversation in one corner of the bunk room erupted in a sudden exclamation.

"_What_?"

"Shh! My God, ya want the whole place t'hear?"

"Kloppman's gonna kill ya."

"He doesn't know. Nobody knows, okay? Except you, and keep it that way, will ya?"

"Sure, sure…but, gosh, why so quick?"

"I don't know…it just…happened, ya know?"

"I wouldn't know, buddy. But is that why—"

"Shh! Hang on!"

"What?"

"Shush!"

There was a long silence in the darkness of the bunkroom. Then the second voice continued in a hushed tone.

"What was that all about?"

"I thought I heard somethin'…but really. You can't tell anyone."

"Sure, buddy. But why the big secret?"

"Cause I don't want anyone else knowin'. It won't take long until she hears about it and, and she'll think I'm some kind of creep. I mean…I don't think she notices me all that much."

"Whaddya mean? She was talkin' to ya just this mornin'…"

"Yeah. And I fell all over myself tryin' to talk to her."

"Why?"

"I don't _know_, I said. But you remember last week? What she did for me?"

"Yeah, yeah. With your ankle?"

"I think it was the way she looked at me. While she was helping me out up the stairs, you know? That got me right away…she's not a whole lot to look at, but she's got a great smile…"

"Aw, you're not gonna get all soft, are ya?"

"No, no. Just thinkin'…but ya promise you won't tell? Anyone else, I mean?"

"Sure thing, buddy…"

"Thanks. You're a real pal…"

"No sweat."

Someone groaned and turned in their bed. The two voices silenced for a long moment.

"I'll talk to ya tomorrow, okay?"

"Swell. G'night…"

"G'night."


End file.
